India fill in the blanks

New Delhi, April 30

Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal today made it to India’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup thanks to strong IPL performances but Shubman Gill and the big-hitting Rinku Singh were relegated to the reserves group as selectors went with the tried and tested for the marquee event in June.

This Indian team looks a very good team, no question about it. Its got plenty of experience, they’ve got some real big hitters, they’ve got variety in bowling as well. — Sunil Gavaskar on team selection

Squad

Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan

The BCCI announced the Rohit Sharma-led squad after a meeting between secretary Jay Shah and chief selector Ajit Agarkar in Ahmedabad. Rohit and Agarkar are expected to address the media in Mumbai on Thursday.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya was retained as vice-captain despite his poor recent form after taking over Mumbai Indians leadership in the ongoing IPL. Hard-hitting batter Shivam Dube also made the cut following a strong IPL showing for Chennai Super Kings.

“There was a lot of debate over Hardik’s place in the squad while Samson was not debated much. Rinku was just unlucky. It was a toss-up between Dube and Rinku with Hardik also in the squad,” a BCCI source said.

Samson, who has had a good IPL both as a batter and captain for Rajasthan Royals, was included as the second wicketkeeper-batter behind Rishabh Pant, pipping the likes of KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan.

Leg-spinner Chahal, who last played for India in August 2023, is the second wrist spinner in the team alongside Kuldeep Yadav.

However, Gill, who is enjoying a good run in the IPL as Gujarat Titans captain, found himself among the standbys along with Kolkata Knight Riders’ big-hitter Rinku Singh.

The selectors decided to show faith in Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had a slow start in the IPL but regained his touch with a swashbuckling hundred recently for RR. The redoubtable Virat Kohli completed the Indian top-order after pulling off strong batting performances in the IPL.

The T20 World cup begins on June 2 in the USA and the Caribbean. India will open their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York.

IPL stars rewarded

India, who have had disappointing campaigns in the previous two World Cups due to their conservative batting approach, needed to make a few bold calls to stake a claim for an elusive ICC trophy.

Picking Dube ahead of Rinku is a bold call in that aspect considering the latter had done no wrong since making his India debut in August last year.

Before the IPL, Rinku, who has a strike rate of 176.23 in 15 T20Is, was considered a certainty in the India squad but selectors have preferred the six-hitting skills of Dube in the middle-order.

India’s top-order has come under a lot of criticism for its outdated approach in previous editions.

Considering the core remains the same, it remains to be seen how stalwarts like Kohli and Rohit fare in probably their last appearance in the biennial event.

On the wicketkeeper batters’ front, India were spoilt for choice and eventually the selectors picked Pant and Samson.

Ravindra Jadeja will be the spin all-rounder in the playing XI and his back-up in the squad is Axar Patel.

Questions remain over the pace attack with selectors picking Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh to assist spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. Both Siraj and Arshdeep have not had the best of IPLs but are proven performers on the international stage. — PTI

The ipl flavour in T20 World Cup-bound team

The likes of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav were automatic choices in India’s T20 World Cup squad but the others made the cut with their exploits in the ongoing IPL. Nine of the 15 players picked were also part of the team that went to Australia for the last edition in 2022. Here is a lowdown on the selected players’ performances in the IPL so far: